Preston Manor to see water system upgrades
PRESTON – Four years after violating federal arsenic standards, Chenango County is finally moving forward this spring to replace the water filtration system at Preston Manor.
It has taken that long to find a viable, reasonably-priced system on the market for the 1880s era, 48-bed facility, according to Department of Social Services Commissioner Bette Osborne. Located on county Route 4, Preston Manor has been the county’s adult home since the early 1970s.
DSS received an official, though non-punative violation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2008 after arsenic levels in the drinking water at the adult home were found to be from 30 to 40 parts per billion. Those levels had been acceptable prior to 2007, but that was before the EPA changed its threshold for arsenic to 10 ppb.
Since that time, the county’s social services and pubic health departments have been working together to mitigate the problem. Commissioner Osborne applied for and received a two-year compliance extension from the EPA.
Although arsenic occurs naturally in bedrock, exposure to the toxin at high levels has been linked to cancer. Bottled water procured from an Edmeston-based vendor is currently being supplied to Preston Manor residents.
Griffiths Engineering of Binghamton designed a system, which was temporarily installed early last year on a trial basis. Beacon Water Equipment Co. of Chenango Bridge will do the permanent installation.
“A pilot system that would work with the specific characteristics of the Preston water was installed last year to confirm that their design would work. It works fine, so we are now in the process of having the only company that bid on the project do the installation,” said Osborne.
When the county first learned of the problem, there were no viable filtration technologies on the marketplace for well systems like the one that services Preston Manor. An initial estimate of nearly $75,000 for engineering and installation forced lawmakers to request additional time to budget.
Osborne said the original company backed out when they tested Preston’s water and could not guarantee the type of arsenic they had.
The project is now estimated to cost approximately $25,000.
“I think the technology five years ago wasn’t as advanced and therefore the cost was quoted higher, and as more and more companies got into the field the cost went down,” Osborne said.
It has taken that long to find a viable, reasonably-priced system on the market for the 1880s era, 48-bed facility, according to Department of Social Services Commissioner Bette Osborne. Located on county Route 4, Preston Manor has been the county’s adult home since the early 1970s.
DSS received an official, though non-punative violation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2008 after arsenic levels in the drinking water at the adult home were found to be from 30 to 40 parts per billion. Those levels had been acceptable prior to 2007, but that was before the EPA changed its threshold for arsenic to 10 ppb.
Since that time, the county’s social services and pubic health departments have been working together to mitigate the problem. Commissioner Osborne applied for and received a two-year compliance extension from the EPA.
Although arsenic occurs naturally in bedrock, exposure to the toxin at high levels has been linked to cancer. Bottled water procured from an Edmeston-based vendor is currently being supplied to Preston Manor residents.
Griffiths Engineering of Binghamton designed a system, which was temporarily installed early last year on a trial basis. Beacon Water Equipment Co. of Chenango Bridge will do the permanent installation.
“A pilot system that would work with the specific characteristics of the Preston water was installed last year to confirm that their design would work. It works fine, so we are now in the process of having the only company that bid on the project do the installation,” said Osborne.
When the county first learned of the problem, there were no viable filtration technologies on the marketplace for well systems like the one that services Preston Manor. An initial estimate of nearly $75,000 for engineering and installation forced lawmakers to request additional time to budget.
Osborne said the original company backed out when they tested Preston’s water and could not guarantee the type of arsenic they had.
The project is now estimated to cost approximately $25,000.
“I think the technology five years ago wasn’t as advanced and therefore the cost was quoted higher, and as more and more companies got into the field the cost went down,” Osborne said.
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